


A Page Beyond the Beginning

by carpfish



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Crush, M/M, Play Characters, Pre-Slash, Romeo & Julius, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-29 17:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21144800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpfish/pseuds/carpfish
Summary: A series of short oneshots based on the Part 1 Debut Plays of A3's seasonal troupes. Written to celebrate A3!'s English release.First up... Spring Troupe's Romeo & Julius.It’s only been a week since he fled the city with Romeo, and Julius has no intention of looking back. It may be a sign of poor character that he is willing to abandon his kin with so little qualm, but if so, then Romeo must be blessed with the very same flaw.





	A Page Beyond the Beginning

By the time that Romeo and Julius emerge from beneath tree cover, the worst of the rainstorm has already passed. While some light drizzling remains, most of the clouds have disappeared to reveal a clear sky of stars and a gleaming, full moon. From their hilltop vantage point, Julius can see miles of rolling hills and sprawling fields, stretching forth in a way Verona’s city walls never could. Between the surprise of exiting thick forest to find wide open fields, and the crisp cool post-rain air, Julius feels his heart racing in his chest despite the fatigue of travel. Julius could run for days on end fueled by this exhilaration alone. One look at Romeo’s awestruck expression shows that he feels the same. 

Nonetheless, Romeo places a hand on Julius’ shoulder, and flashes a grin that warms Julius’ rain-soaked body to the core. “This is probably a good spot to set up camp for the night. We can continue on tomorrow.” Julius isn’t ever going to say no to Romeo when he smiles like that, so despite the adrenaline thrumming through his bones, he nods and follows Romeo’s lead. 

It’s impossible to find dry branches for a campfire in the wake of a storm like that, so the two of them settle for huddling close together, each wrapped in layers of cloaks and blankets as they wait for body heat to dry their damp tunics. The night air is still crisp and fresh, but also noticeably colder now that the excitement has worn off, and Julius finds himself shivering involuntarily and leaning in towards Romeo’s warmth despite himself. 

A sudden sneeze tears itself from Julius’ throat, and Romeo’s head whips around immediately at the sound. It’s not elegant or dashing at all, and makes Julius sound like a small, wounded animal. In fact, with his dripping hair and waterlogged robes, Julius must look something like a drowned cat anyways. Not flattering at all. He feels his blush creep up to his ears as Romeo’s burning gaze turns to inspect him. 

Romeo smiles again, in that way that makes Julius feel a little less cold in the night, and reaches over to ruffle Julius’ hair. “This probably isn’t what you expected when I asked you to see the world with me, is it?” he says, teasing but not cruel. He pauses for a minute, quietly contemplative, as he clumsily brushes a wet lock of hair away from Julius’ forehead, and that banishes a bit more of the chill. “Do you miss Verona?” 

Julius shakes his head immediately. “No. I have no regrets.” It’s only been a week since he fled the city with Romeo, and Julius has no intention of looking back. Verona was home and family, but also rules and roles that he had sought to shirk all his life. It may be a sign of poor character that he is willing to abandon his kin with so little qualm, but if so, then Romeo must be blessed with the very same flaw. “Do you?” 

“Me neither. I’ve dreamed of leaving Verona to travel the world since-” Romeo is cut off by an abrupt gurgle from his stomach. His grin turns sheepish. “Well, I guess if there’s one thing I miss, it’s the food. Eating on the road isn’t half as nice as a feasting at home.”

Julius nods sagely. He’s packed enough dried fruit and cheese to last several days, but they pale in comparison the lavish meals prepared at the Capulet estate. “Agreed.” It’s so easy to just follow Romeo’s lead. Julius is so easy. But it’s no fun if he simply agrees with everything that Romeo says, and if Julius wants to keep travelling with Romeo for a long time, it wouldn’t do to run out of good conversation after only one week. 

“I miss… the spices, I think,” Julius says, after a beat. And now that he’s said it, he can almost taste those strong, exotic flavors at the back of his tongue, vivid enough to make his mouth water from nothing. “Cinnamon, cloves, pepper, saffron… They’re expensive so they’d be hard to get, but we had a lot of them back at the estate.” 

“Pretty rich tastes, but I can’t say I’m surprised.” Romeo’s back to looking over the fields that they’ll travel tomorrow, and as embarrassing it is to have Romeo’s gaze fixed on him, Julius wishes that he’d do it again. Julius must have been wishing so hard that Romeo heard his thoughts, because not a moment later, Romeo whips back around with a radiant smile that would have knocked Julius off his feet had he not already been sitting down. 

“Maybe instead we can bring you to where the spices are.” Romeo rhapsodies, clearly already weaving another fantasy. “We’ll travel to the ports of Venice, where all those foreign ships land to import their spices. Then we’ll hop on one of those ships ourselves and see where it takes us. The Americas, the Far East-”

“How do you expect to get to Venice in the first place? Do you know the way?” Juliet almost feels bad for cutting Romeo off mid-excitement, but it’s always been like this. Romeo has always been ready to race off and face the world armed with only a head full of dreams and a pocketful of smiles. Meanwhile, Julius is just swept up in his current, dragged along to deal with the particulars and practicalities of how to make Romeo’s dreams possible.

Feigning exasperation, Julius crosses his arms in front of his chest, and tries not to use this as an excuse to lean against Romeo beneath the tree. “Who knows how many days it would take to reach Venice by foot. I suppose we’ll have to buy horses after all.” 

Romeo jolts up at this. “Buy? You mean, we have that kind of money?” 

Julius shrugs. “I grabbed some treasures from the estate on my way out. If I sell them, then we should have to buy horses for our journey.”

“We could have been riding instead of walking all this time!” Romeo exclaims, incredulous. “Of course Julius had a plan all along.” 

“That’s why it’s your job to be the strength, and my job to be the brains,” Julius gloats, acting a lot more confident and put-together than he feels. Which is mostly burning up. Why is it so warm? His clothes aren’t even dry yet. 

From the faraway look in Romeo’s eyes, Julius can already tell that he’s mapping out a course to far-flung reaches at the end of the earth, or wherever he’s thinking about. But then Romeo leans his head full of dreams on Julius’ shoulder, and Julius doesn’t think he’ll ever feel cold again, not even if Romeo were to drag him to the bottom of the sea. 

“Tomorrow we’ll buy horses at the first town we come across. Then it’s off to Venice, and after that…” Romeo heaves the most beautiful sigh against Julius’ shoulder as his wide, hopeful eyes reflect all the stars in the sky. “The world. You’ll see the world with me, won’t you, Julius?”

Julius doesn’t think he can manage words right now. He doesn’t want to speak, for fear of breaking the moment. All he can do is offer a small nod, and settle against Romeo’s head on his shoulder. It isn’t long before he hears the telltale evening of Romeo’s breath that says he’s already fallen asleep, but Julius continues to look at the open fields and the night sky for a while longer. 

Julius will see the world with Romeo. That much he’d decided the moment that Romeo had asked him, back in Verona. But until then, Julius thinks as he drifts off to sleep as well, he’s very content to keep seeing the world in Romeo. 

Julius wonders what travels tomorrow will bring. 


End file.
